SHOCK: Soaring immigration and rising birth rates could see UK population double

BRITAIN’S population could virtually double in a lifetime because of soaring immigration and rising birth rates, experts said yesterday.
Numbers could top 110million by 2081, according to the Government Actuary’s Department.
The shock figures came as teachers and nurses warned that pressure is piling up on local services because of Labour’s open door immigration policy.
And Bank of England adviser Professor David Blanchflower said the numbers flowing in from eastern Europe show no signs of stopping and have helped force down wages. He even warned that many migrant builders who first headed for Ireland will now come here to help build the Olympics.
The alarming picture is a devastating blow for ministers who have only recently admitted their policies have had a social impact as well as an economic one.
It comes less than two weeks after figures showed migrants are arriving in the UK at a rate of 520 a day.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: “This confirms what we have been telling the Government – that Britain’s population is set to grow rapidly.
“Labour need to wake up and understand the factors driving population change as well as the solutions.”
The Office for National Statistics last month warned the UK population could rise from nearly 61million to about 85million over the next six decades.
But this was based on factors relating to immigration, fertility rates and average life span.
Analysis published yesterday by the Actuary’s Department predicted what would happen if those rates changed over the years.
It warned increases in each of the factors would see our population hit 108,723,000 by 2081. That would only need net migration to increase from the current 190,000 to 250,000 a year, fertility rates to rise from 1.84 to 2.04 and average life span to increase by up to two years.
Such scenarios would also see the population pass 100million as early as 2071.
Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, said the projections were a warning that should be heeded.
The Government had “consistently underestimated the problem,” he added.
Giving evidence to a Lords committee, Steve Sinnott, of the National Union of Teachers, said schools were struggling to cope with new immigrants, especially from eastern Europe.
“The teachers have been pulling their hair out,” he told the committee, which is looking at the impact of immigration.
Josie Irwin, of the Royal College of Nursing, said there was not sufficient evidence available to examine the true impact on the NHS, but added there are particular difficulties in inner cities.